Arizona

A judge sentenced Randy Miller to six years in prison and his son, Chad Miller, to five years. They had pleaded guilty to fraud stemming from a bond sale.

Legislation passed in Texas and other Southwest states this year seeks to increase or explore funding sources to finance water supply and infrastructure.

The ruling by a state judge comes in a lawsuit that pointed to unequal access by public school districts to local property taxes and bonds.

A flow of public dollars to private schools has raised credit concerns about public schools and spurred litigation in Southwest states.

The budget traveled a bumpy road before a package of spending bills won final passage just days before the July 1 start of fiscal 2026.

Randy Miller, 70, and Chad Miller, 41, entered guilty pleas Wednesday in the Legacy Cares securities fraud case and will be sentenced at a later date.

The Phoenix-based university will not have to pay a $37.7 million fine after the U.S. Department of Education dropped its case.

The outlook revision to positive from stable comes ahead of the airport's planned refunding and plans to issue bonds to help finance a $2.7 billion capital program.

Fallout from the Legacy Cares deal includes bondholder lawsuits against the underwriter and bond counsel, payment defaults, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and now fraud charges from the SEC and DOJ.

The SEC and DOJ announced charges in connection with municipal bonds issued for the Legacy Cares sports complex in Arizona, which defaulted and went bankrupt.

Houston, Phoenix, and Dallas are taking action to address fiscal challenges brought on by litigation, state actions and a ballot measure.

If the seven states dependent on the Colorado River don't craft a new operating agreement, the federal government could end up doing it for them.

Texas, Oklahoma, and other Southwest states would jump on the bitcoin bandwagon amid a nationwide surge in bills to invest public money in cryptocurrencies.

The rating agency said the one-notch downgrade, which comes ahead of a bond sale, was due to weaker operating performance and liquidity.

Issuers in the eight-state region sold $103.3 billion of bonds last year, with Texas deals accounting for $68.13 billion of the debt.

Texas officials are eying ways to protect a massive state-funded school property tax cut from being eroded by local bond issues and tax increases.

Governors in the drought-prone region are asking their legislatures for funding to boost future water supply or to repair aging water infrastructure.

From two Colorado lines to more Amtrak service, Southwest states are advancing passenger rail projects, but the Trump administration may slow that roll.

While Texas is forecasting a big budget balance, fiscal boom times are ebbing for it and other Southwest states amid tax cuts and depleted federal funding.

The Goldwater Institute took aim at another Arizona municipality, filing a lawsuit against tax rate hikes approved by the Gilbert Town Council in October.